T-cell Expression of CD 4, 8, and 137 among Naïve Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent psychiatric and immune system illnesses worldwide. Recent studies have found a possible relationship between MDD and immune dysregulation, which manifests as an alteration in inflammatory biomarkers. Objectives: We aim to investigate the role of CD4, CD8, and CD137 expressions on T cells among patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) not under treatment in comparison with normal individuals. Methodology: The current study was comparative and descriptive conducted on middle-aged patients (age range 18-60 years old) who were diagnosed with MDD. Assessing the differences in T cell expression of CD 4, CD 8, and CD 137 molecules between MDD cases and healthy controls was the primary outcome of our study. Results: In this study, we included 50 patients with MDD and a similar number of healthy controls. In terms of the primary outcomes of the present study. The study results found statistically significant differences between cases and controls in terms of CD4 (P=0.001), CD8 (P=0.001), and CD137 expression (P=0.001). MMD patients had significantly lower expression of CD4 (582.88 ± 133.13 versus 775.04±159.6 in the control group), CD8 (374.24 ±204.8 versus 524.04 ± 195.3 in the control group), and CD137 (391.04 ±158.2 versus 587.52±191.7 in the control group). Conclusion: We can state that there is a strong association between immune status and patients with MDD, especially naïve patients. This was confirmed according to the significant decrease in the CD4, CD8, and CD137 levels.